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Friday, January 24, 2014

Central Florida…Visits! Family and Friends

January 22, 2014
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Bill, Helen, Bob, Georgette and Rita

Me, Helen and Larry Pellerin

Another night at Cracker Barrel Campground restaurant parking lot. It was a little too late to make it over to my cousin Larry Pellerin, hence the parking lot. That was last night, but this morning, it was only a short hop to Winter Springs. We arrived around 7:30 am and backed into Larry’s driveway. We could see a light in the kitchen, but Larry wasn’t in sight. We didn’t want to ring the door bell and retreated to the camper. A few minutes later, I spotted Larry looking out of the blinds. We soon were talking and having a good family reunion. The list of people that we wanted to check-in with was lengthy in this vicinity. We left Larry in Winter Springs and drove a short distance to Leesburg. Bob and Georgette, from Gorham, NH, (Georgette is Helen’s cousin) were next on the list. Luckily, we were able to visit with them and also with Rita (another cousin) and Bill. They all live in the five lakes region in Leesburg and Umatilla. It is always good to meet up with them and get caught up on family news. We spent the night in the truck camper down next to the club house. Not to say that Georgette didn’t offer for us to stay in their home. We make it a point to stay in our home away from home.

January 23, 2014

The weather this morning was cold by Florida standards. I had 39 degrees outside and 69 degrees inside at wakeup time. I cranked up the thermostat a bit and in less than two minutes it was a toasty 73 degrees. Helen had hot oatmeal, brown sugar, bananas and hot coffee going in no time. The cold weather was making our planned visit go quicker than we wanted to. Staying inside, that is, instead of heading for Homosassa and a visit with Roland and Cindy Viens. We headed south for Brooksville and a visit with Henry Coulombe (a former neighbor back in Berlin, NH). Roland and Cindy were expecting us on Saturday. Henry on the other hand was free and told us to come on down. Henry always has plenty to talk about and can make you feel comfortable and at home. His three cats have different characters and kept us amused with there antics. Helen prepared lunch for the three of us. We had brought down some “Blanchette Sausage” a specialty sausage from back home. Henry was happy with the treat.

It warmed up a bit in the afternoon and a walk around the pond helped stretch those legs. No alligators were spotted, but we did see several species of birds. I’ll have to get my bird book out to identify them. I took an afternoon siesta that made my day. In the evening, Henry drove us to restaurant for an evening meal.January 24, 2014This morning, I had 41 degrees outside of the truck camper. The wind was blowing a bit and again it felt raw. Ah, but not as raw as Berlin, NH with a minus 15 below. Helen and I decided to travel up to Homosassa and check-in with Roland and Cindy. (Roland is the Superintendent of the Berlin Water Works which I am Chairperson of the BWW Commissioners). We drove into their compound just as they were getting ready to leave for the day on a boating trip. Roland offered me to tag along on the trip up some river, but I declined as it was too cold for my liking. He also invited us to stay at their rented house, but again we declined. It was time head further south and possibly warmer temperatures. MacDill Air Force Base on the edge of Tampa Bay was our final destination for the day. A note here about distances…Brooksville to Homosassa is about 30 miles, Homosassa to MacDill is about 78 miles. All in all we weren’t traveling long distances. At MacDill, check-in was quick. Of course, this place is always full when it comes to the full hookup sites. It was no problem for us to dry camp and use our new Honda 2000 generator. We parked close to the restrooms. The Marina just 300 feet was next on our walk around the park. We were surprised that the camper recreation room was now filled with all of kinds rental equipment. The attendant told us that the Fam Camp registration building was going to be torn down and a new facility would be built. It was going to take three years to finish the new site. It is going to be a wonderful place when done. It was now 63 degrees and warm enough for a walk on the beach. We spotted this guy with a Mine Lab metal detector and had an interesting conversation about his finds on the beach. On course, the birds were also fun to watch and see how close we could walk up to them before they would scatter. This evening we are resting and recharging our batteries along with our bodies. Oh, Helen must have a fully charged body because she is reconfiguring a good portion of all of the cabinets. I’m amazed on how much stuff she can put away in different places.